Rollover

Date: November 12, 2009
Location: I-84 near Baker City, Oregon
Names: Phillip Joel Harris, Joshua John Pischura, Taune Nicole Winter Pepper

According to KATU.com, Phillip Joel Harris, of Attalla, Alabama, became the latest casualty of an early-morning freeway crash near Baker City, Oregon, where a church van carrying 16 people rolled on icy roads. Harris, 24, died November 22, 2009, at a hospital in Boise, Idaho. Joshua John Pischura, 20, of Geneva, Ohio, died shortly after the crash November 12, 2009, and Taune Nicole Winter Pepper, 23, of Deer Trail, Colorado, died later the same day.

The accident occurred around 5:20 AM, as a van carrying members of a Colorado church group was heading west on an icy stretch of I-84. The van went out of control, veered off the road, and rolled several times, coming to rest on its roof. Fourteen people were taken to various hospitals. In an earlier report, KATU.com said nearly everyone in the van was thrown from the vehicle. All of the college-age survivors were hurt in the crash, and some had critical injuries.

Five seriously or critically injured passengers were flown to Boise-area hospitals. Three others were transported to a hospital in La Grande, Oregon. Six were treated and released from St. Elizabeth Health Services in Baker City, Oregon.

The driver was reportedly wearing a seat belt and suffered non-life-threatening injuries; it was not known how many others were wearing safety restraints.

The nine women and seven men in the van were on part of a church training program called Rocky Mountain Masters Commission. They were en route to a Portland conference to work and raise money for the discipleship program, doing tasks such as ushering. As part of their church program, the students lived dorm-style at New Life Worship Center in Federal Heights, Colorado, while attending classes leading to a minister’s license.

Some of the van’s passengers were from Denver, some from Florida and Utah, and one woman was from Iraq. Survivors’ names were not released.

As of November 19, according to The Record Courier, an investigation was continuing, including personnel from Oregon, Idaho, and Colorado.

As church and community members throughout the Northwest join together to mourn and pray, we add our prayers to the many going out on behalf of the survivors. It is truly tragic whenever a life is cut short, but perhaps especially so with these dedicated young people with a dream of the ministry. We hope that all the survivors continue to recover, and the aftermath of this crash will not take any more dreams.

When a person tries to correct the wheel while driving, a car should skid, not roll over. It should be very difficult to make a car roll over. However, it’s an unfortunate truth that there are some models and makes of vehicles that roll over very easily. These makes and models are well known and there have been successful lawsuits against the companies who build, sell and profit from these vehicles. When a vehicle rolls over it may be entirely driver error or it may be partially driver error and partially poor design. The difference is that the driver error is to be expected. We all know that drivers sometimes make errors and sometimes a quick correction is necessary, for example, when a deer runs in the road or even a cow. A driver should be able to jerk the wheel, make a sudden maneuver around an obstacle or to correct a drift without the car flipping over and killing everyone inside it.

In addition to being more stable and less likely to roll over, a car should be designed so that if it does roll over, there is enough strength and stability in the roof that the people inside don’t get crushed. Whenever there’s a rollover crash like this one causing serious injury or even death it may be easy to blame the driver. But there is another very important factor. And that is the companies who are making this car who know very well that the car is dangerous but who do nothing to correct it because it would cut into their bottom line.

Important questions to consider when hiring a lawyer:
Does the lawyer understand how to help me pay my medical bills after an accident?
What about testimonials?
What kind of time limits are involved?
What if I have a smaller case?
Are there any hard rules to follow when looking for a great personal injury lawyer?

Date: September 27, 2009
Location: I-84 near Baker City, Oregon
Names: Juana Lopez-Lopez, Jonathan Mendoza-Lopez, Raul Mendoza-Lopez, Mireya Lopez, Hahir Emmanuel Mendoza-Lopez

A family vacation turned tragic September 27, 2009, when a car containing five family members swerved off the road and rolled down an embankment, killing a 60-year-old grandmother and a 4-month-old infant. Dead in the crash were Juana Lopez-Lopez and her tiny grandson, Jonathan Mendoza-Lopez.

According to Idaho Press-Tribune, the accident took place at about 6:25 AM, near Baker City, Oregon, on Interstate 84. Five members of the Lopez family were returning from a weekend gathering. Raul Mendoza-Lopez, 25, his wife, Mireya Lopez, 23, and the baby’s brother, Hahir Emmanuel Mendoza-Lopez, 4, all of Nampa, Idaho, were injured in the crash.

The devastating chain of events began as the family traveled east on the freeway, when their Ford Explorer started to drift to the left onto the gravel shoulder of the center median. Raul Mendoza-Lopez tried to steer back onto the road, but overcorrected, driving back across two eastbound lanes before swerving off the south shoulder onto an embankment. The vehicle then rolled several times, coming to rest about 50 feet away from the highway.

When the car finally stopped, Juana and Jonathan were dead. All the car’s occupants were wearing safety restraints. But Jonathan, who was in an infant seat in front, was thrown from the vehicle. According to news reports, authorities are checking on whether the safety seat was properly installed.

The driver and 4-year-old Hahir, who was in a booster seat in the back, were transported to St. Elizabeth Health Services with non-life-threatening injuries. Mireya Lopez was treated and released from Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.

Eastbound lanes of the interstate were partially blocked for approximately six hours while emergency crews responded to and investigated the crash.

When children are injured, the law can get complicated fast. For example, while the standard Oregon injury case must be filed within two years of the accident, the statute of limitations for children, on the other hand, is not so straightforward. ORS 12.160 steps you through the process for figuring out the statute of limitations. First, the regular statute of limitations applies. Second, it doesn’t start running until the child turns 18 years old. But, third, the statute cannot be extended more than five years, and fourth, it cannot be extended beyond the child’s 19th birthday.

While accidents like this one can seem black or white, a closer investigation will sometimes turn up a surprise.  Some might assume that the driver fell asleep at the wheel, or stopped paying attention for some other reason. And perhaps that is exactly what happened. But there are many other possibilities as well. Poor road conditions may have caused this wreck – for all we know, there may have been a large pothole that has already caused three prior accidents, or maybe there’s a blind curve with a missing warning sign. If that is the case, there may be a lawsuit available against the city/county/state. Such a lawsuit would allow the injured person to receive compensation and hopefully prevent future accidents on that stretch of road. Maybe the car was recently brought in for a tune-up, and the mechanic replaced the steering mechanism carelessly, and the car lost steering.  These things do happen, and when someone is seriously injured, a competent Oregon personal injury attorney can investigate and find out what truly happened.  Usually at no cost.  For more information on what to do in the case of an Oregon accident, contact our office or read 7 Common Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Oregon Accident Case.

Shulman DuBois LLC is located in Portland, Oregon, and serves clients in all Oregon cities and counties, including: Portland, Beaverton, Multnomah County, Hillsboro, Gresham, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Tualatin, Troutdale, Sellwood, Corvallis, Salem, Eugene, and Albany.

Date: 2007
Type: Newspaper article

As a follow-up about Simon Rose of Medford who was hurt riding an ATV, we wanted to call your attention to this incredible series of stories the Oregonian put out back in 2007.  ATVs are dangerous, and the industry has failed to take some obvious steps that could make them safer.

Want to know why they don’t have mandatory roll bars on them?  It’s because the manufacturers fear that this would make people “think they’re dangerous,” and then they’d sell fewer of them.  In my opinion, it should be criminal to sell an ATV without a roll bar.

Shulman DuBois, LLC, is located in Portland, Oregon, and serves clients in all Oregon cities and counties, including: Portland, Beaverton, Multnomah County, Hillsboro, Gresham, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Tualatin, Troutdale, Sellwood, Corvallis, Salem, Eugene, and Albany.